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Friday, 15 April 2016

The Boundless ~ Kenneth Oppel

I've been attempting to be more selective with my book reads due to have much less free time--babies cause that strange phenomenon of loss of leisure time.

Regardless, I grabbed this book during a book outlet sale, drawn to it by it's artistic cover...and my instincts proved correct.

If I was going to pick a book that I could compare The Boundless to, it would be The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern--which I also greatly enjoyed.

After finishing the book (in one evening, no less), I went onto Goodreads to get an idea of what other readers thought of it. I was quite surprised to read reviews criticizing how "slow" and "boring" the beginning of this novel was. Someone even commented that it didn't pick up speed at all.

Clearly none of these reviewers have ever read any Russian literature. They would still be on the first page of War and Peace, bogged down in the multiple names of Constantin Levin.

To be clear--I did not find this novel boring or slow *at all*. It was delightful for a few reasons.

I loved that it was set in Canada. I find Canadian literature to be so boring sometimes. This was an interesting combination of fantasy and historical fiction.

The premise of the novel is set on a massive train called, you got it, the Boundless. The protagonist is a teenage boy called Will who is got up in a plot to....well, I can't go into detail because it would spoil the novel for any possible readers.

With the speed and ease that I was read it, I would think that it should be classified as a teen or young adult novel.

Definitely give this novel a chance if you're interested in a simple read that has small elements of fantasy.

4/5 stars and I'll have to check out other book by Oppel.

EDIT: Just checked the novel is in the category of children's literature. Very appropriate.